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Aims/hypothesis The rising prevalence of diabetes world-wide has increased interest in the cost of diabetes. Inpatient costs for all people with diabetes in Scotland were investigated. Methods The Scottish Care Information—Diabetes Collab-oration (SCI-DC), a real-time clinical information system of almost all diagnosed cases of diabetes in Scotland, UK, was linked to data on all hospital admissions for people with diabetes. Inpatient stay costs were estimated using the 2007–2008 Scottish National Tariff. The probability of hospital admission and total annual cost of admissions were estimated in relation to age, sex, type of diabetes, history of vascular admission, HbA1c, creatinine, body mass index and diabetes duration